Man shot by mother expected to recover — (Independent Mail)

Independent Mail.com

By Kirk Brown

Posted August 11, 2011 at 1:18 p.m.

PIEDMONT ­The 20-year-old Piedmont man who was shot by his mother during a family dispute Wednesday night is expected to recover from his injuries, a family spokesman said Thursday.

Bryan Chase Merritt is being treated in intensive care at Greenville Memorial Hospital, said the spokesman, who asked not to be identified. He said Merritt was hit in the neck, chest and abdomen by birdshot in a shotgun.

Merritt’s mother, Terri Jewel Rodgers, 54, is being held at the Anderson County Detention Center, a jail spokesman said.

Investigators told her relatives that Rodgers will likely be charged with attempted murder, according to the family spokesman.

Anderson County deputies responded to a shooting at 1000 Old Williamston Road shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday, according to a sheriff’s report.

According to the family spokesman, the shooting happened after Merritt intervened in an argument involving his grandmother and Rodgers. The grandmother is Rodgers’ mother.

During the argument, Rodgers stormed outside, picked up a shotgun and started banging the weapon against the home’s backdoor, the family spokesman said. The shotgun discharged, blowing a hole in the door and hitting Merritt, who was standing several feet away, he said.

Merritt then crawled to his bedroom, where he stayed with his grandmother until deputies arrived, the family spokesman said.

Rodgers is a former school teacher on disability who has bipolar disorder and fibromyalgia, the family spokesman said.

“She ran out of Prozac about a week ago and went off the deep end,” the spokesman said.